Great snow line, a true "hidden gem" of the Sawatch Range. Might need to repeat this one with skis someday! Traversed over to PT 13460, 13300 and 12601 as well. Climbed with Steve, Scot, Darin and Carson.

We were worried about conditions on the north face, but it turned out to be a great climb. Ended up taking the X Rated couloir to climber's left of both of the routes described here. Low to mid 40's down low and upper 40 degree slopes near the top. Traversed over to 13460 and 12601. Willows in the basin aren't too bad if you above the creek to the left and follow the La Plata trail until it heads away from the creek.

I had no idea how great of a snow climb this was going to be. We didn't take either line shown on the route photo, just went for the line that looked most inviting. We started directly below the summit and climbed straight up, passing through two surfacing but not quite exposed, icy rock bands. New snow in the upper portion was stable but made for a ton of work. All of us were very surprised what a great line it ended up being! I did some research and found that this line has been coined X Rated for an X on the upper part. With a trailess, willow bashing approach, this beauty comes with a price. We're fairly certain the guy we met on the summit thought he was on La Plata :)

I couldn't find a whole lot of information on this route prior to the climb. Me and my friend parked off Independence Pass (CO 82) and hiked up the standard La Plata Pk slog. He continued up La Plata and I tagged "Sayers". It was a fine day with a good dusting of snow and the absence of a trail and others up the ridge..

Started on the SW ridge route as described by Roach. After splashing through the muddy willows, turned NW and up talus to the East Ridge of Sayres Benchmark. Sigh - some days you don't have the juice, and this was one of them; every step felt slow. Summited Sayres and then headed down the East Ridge, which was pretty time-consuming. Mostly class 3, with moments of class 4-5 that were avoidable by climbing down off the crest. The rock is mostly solid, with the East side of several towers being a bit crumbly. Then up La Plata and when I was apparently one false summit hump from the top. Oh well, no mountain is worth getting me - and my puppy! - zapped to death, so I turned around. The brighter side: Brangwen (my puppy) had already been to the top with my buddy Ian, who hadn't done Sayres, so Brangwen has now climbed her first 14er. I am a proud puppy-papa.